Meet the North: Guardians of the Galaxy

Introduction

In the recent battle at 9-4, Imperium forces were stopped by ‘The North’. But who exactly is ‘The North’? For some players, the answer is obvious. For others, the mess of New Eden geopolitics makes it a difficult question.

At EN24, we like to cut through mess, so we’re running a two-parter called ‘Meet the North’. This is a cheat sheet introduction to one of the great powers of New Eden.

In our first installment, we will cover the Guardians of the Galaxy coalition [GOTG]. The GOTG live in Deklein, Branch and parts of Pure Blind, Fade and Tenal. You can find them on the coalition influence map, here. They are a coalition of a number of different alliances, each with their own particular identity.

DARKNESS. [DARK.]

DARKNESS. is the lead alliance in GOTG. Whilst the coalition does aspire for an ideal of first among equals, it is DARKNESS. services and DARKNESS. comms that the rest of the coalition uses. Their CEO, Sort Dragon, also heads the coalition. DARKNESS. has over 4200 pilots and can field a powerful fleet. When the coalition goes to war, they are oft at the head. Notably, they have a strong AU TZ presence – an additional advantage.

Solyaris Chtonium [SLYCE]

Solyaris Chtonium is an alliance with some history behind it. It was founded in 2009 as a way for a high-sec industrial corp to associate with others. It grew in this niche until 2014, when the small Alpha Republic corp joined them. Alpha Republic was a strong PVP corp and complemented the industrial powers of the alliance well. It rose to prominence in the alliance and led SLYCE to Curse and then to the north. SLYCE is headed by RiotRick and has over 3400 pilots.

ChaosTheory. [KOS]

ChaosTheory. is a 1500 plus pilot alliance living in parts of Branch and Deklein. Whilst they are quite small in numbers, they make up for it in ferocity. A quick check on their killboard shows that in just this past week, they have been busy slaughtering supercarriers. On a more amusing note, their alliance logo is a skull, and their ticker means ‘Kill on Sight’. This may communicate some understanding of their culture.

Caladrius Alliance [-000-]

Caladrius Alliance is a majority-Japanese group of around 800 pilots. They live in parts of Branch and Tenal. There is something of a language barrier, but by all accounts, they are a competent and dedicated group. Certainly, when looking through battle reports, they always seem to have a contingent at major fights. That alone is, in my eyes, impressive for a small group.

Mordus Angels [MOA]

Mordus Angels is a 2700-strong alliance living in parts of Deklein and Fade. It has lived in the north for a long time, even before World War Bee. Their stated aim has been to take down mega-coalitions which push smaller groups around. They were a thorn in the side of Goonswarm Federation for a long time, when the Goons lived in Deklein. When the Goons went south, MOA followed. You can find many of them fighting in Delve right now. They are led by Gen Eve.

Siberian Squads [SB-SQ]

Siberian Squads is a small, 500 plus pilot alliance living in Branch. They are comprised of 5 corps, but two, Siberian Squad and Siberian Squad Support are the prime motivators and titular Siberian Squads. They were founded with the intent to give players out in the eastern Russia a community. This was because, as is noted on EVEWho, Russian timezones can be a bit awkward. As late as September 2017, they had holdings in Fountain. However, the expansion of Initiative. into the area forced them to divest renters there. Right now, they seem to be very active in GOTG operations.

Conclusion

I hope that this helps to communicate the nature of the Guardians of the Galaxy. The unfortunate misconception that all alliances are just pets of DARKNESS. is simply untrue. GOTG is instead a large and vibrant force, with many component parts. Each group brings a different strength to the table. Next article, we will take a look at PanFam – the other key military powerhouse in the north.